Heirs of the Promise

“…You shall not be afraid of them but you shall remember what the Lord your God did to Pharaoh and to all Egypt” (Deuteronomy 7:18, NKJV). For Israel, God was speaking of the massive, well-armed heathen nations they faced in the Promised Land. For us today, he speaks of every problem, trouble, and overwhelming difficulty we face in life.

Why are we not to fear? Because God says so! No other explanation is needed. God is all powerful, all sufficient; and he is aware of the satanic strongholds we face. He knows every snare, trial, and temptation that will ever be thrown at us. He commands us, “You shall not fear any of them!”

Abraham was living in a strange country, surrounded by powerful kings, not knowing where he would end up. God’s first word to him was, “Fear not, Abram, I am your shield; your reward shall be very great” (Genesis 15:1).

The meaning of this last phrase is “I will be a wall around you, your protector, your defense.” In essence, God was telling Abraham, “You are going to face difficulties, but I will protect you through them all.” Abraham responded by believing God’s word to him. “He believed the Lord, and he counted it to him as righteousness” (Genesis 15:6).

This same word came to Abraham’s son, Isaac. He also lived in a hostile environment, surrounded by Philistines who hated him, harassed him, and wanted him off their land. Scripture says that every time Isaac dug a well for a supply of water, the Philistines filled them back up: “Now the Philistines had stopped and filled with earth all the wells…” (Genesis 26:15).

Everywhere Isaac went, he faced the same problem. As this cloud of doubt formed over Isaac, God gave him the same word he gave Abraham: “I am the God of Abraham your father. Fear not, for I am with you and will bless you and multiply your offspring for my servant Abraham's sake” (Genesis 26:24).

We are children of Abraham and God makes the same promise to us he did to Abraham and his offspring. “And if you are Christ's, then you are Abraham's offspring, heirs according to promise” (Galatians 3:29).